Peogess of and appabatus for disintegjlatnrg wheat



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(Model.)

1-. TAGOTART. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING WHEAT, &6.

Patented 00%;. 18, 1881 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' (ModeL) TAG-GARE", PROGESS 01-" AND APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGBATING WHEAT, a

N0.24-8,528. Pmented Quiz 18,1881

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I l-AXOIS TAGGc-XRT, F BROOKLYN, NE\V YORK, ASSIGXOR TO CHARLES R. KXIOKERBOOKER, TRUSTEE.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATBNG WHEAT, sac.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,528, dated October 18, 1881.

Application filed April to, 1880. unnel.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS TAGGART, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Apparatus for Disiutegrating Wheat and other Grains and Substances, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is the reduction of grains or pieces of. frangible solid substances into finer particles by blowing them in a continuous stream against a solid abutment placed in an inclosing-chamber, and collecting such reduced particles for further treatment or use.

This patent is intended to cover'both the improvement in the art and the mechanism or apparatus employed in working the process.

Substances have been reduced by a single impact whenever a frangible mass has been thrown with sufficient violence against asolid impediment. Machines have been employed for reduction by percussion in which the impulse was given by arms, heaters, wings, or other moving parts, and also by eicctingsuch frangible substances from a tube by explosion or by blowing, the momentum being arrested by a solid impediment. Ithas been suggested that the frangible substances borne upon a continuous current of air could be broken by striking against a solid impediment; but no machine was in any such case organized so as to carry the suggestion into practice, nor for the preservation and collection of the particles produced by the shock; nor am I aware that the result has been attained in any practical or useful manner.

My invention is distinguished from former known modes of reduction by the use ot'an apparatus in which tlre grains or pieces to be reduced are forced into a continuous current of air or other equivalent compressed aerii'ormcd fluid, and then discharged against a solid tar get or impediment in a continuously-flowing stream, against which target the pieces orgrains, striking in rapid succession, are reduced by the force of a single impingement into l'iner particles and collected in a chamherarranged to receive, collect, and au'tomatically discharge such solid particles, while the collect automatically such particles for further treatment or use.

In cases where the reduction has been made by explosion the charge is blown against the abutment, and the work is delayed by the necessity of reloading, and the charges must be either very small or the work of reduction will be imperfect by reason of the pieces impinging against one another, so that the first to strike the target will be interposed so as to interfere with the direct percussion of the following pieces against the target or impediment. In my process the grains or pieces follow one another in succession in quantities which should be so regulated that the first to strike the target may be broken and scattered, leaving the surface of the target free to receive the next of the pieces or grains following in succession.

The apparatus which I employ is distinguished from what has been before known in the use of an injector, through which acurrent of compressed air or other aerit'ormed fluid is discharged through an annulz'uoritiee arranged around a pipe, through which the pieces or grains to be reduced are drawn by the action of the outflowing air, with which they become mingled, and are discharged through a nozzle into a chamberin which is placed a solid target, against which such frangible substances are broken, and which chamber is provided with an outlet for the automatic discharge of the solid products of the percussion, and also for the escape of the expanded air after it has delivcred up the solid matter, whereby I amenabled to save such solid products for further treatment. or use, szichelements not having before been combined in any known apparatus. It is also distinguishable in the employment, in the combination as aforesaid, of a supplytubc fitted with a valve or gate, which permits the amount of solid material supplied to the air-current. to be regulated, at the same time that it does not interfere with its continuous supply.

In the annexed drawings, making a part of I00 of reduction.

carries it.

A is achamber, which contains the target, and ishoppered at the bottom and fitted with a discharge-pipe, B, through which the reduced.

particles collected in the chamber are dis-i charged. The chamber, asillustrated, extends upward, so as to permit the expanded air to] escape without carrying with it the products This chamber is so constructed as to allow sufficient freedom for the outward passage of the'air, while retaining in the chamher all, or nearly all, of the products of disintegration, whether such provision be-made by the use of a large andhigh inclosure of pyramidal or conical form, and having sufficient capacity to allow of a very slow ascent of the air to the small outlet at the top, thus giving time for subsidencefof the fine and lighter products of the disintegration, or by forming the inclosing walls or surrounding surfaces of the chamber of hunting or other pervious fibrous fabric, 'or of perforated metal of such size of integration.

mesh or perforations as to allow the air to pass .outward, while retaining within the chamber nearly or quite all of the fine products of dis- It is importantthat the air entering the chamber should pass out without causing any perceptible back-pressure upon the inflowing jet, and not by pressure and reaction retard the inflow'of the air. It must be ofsuchg'height above the abutment and the hopperedj end as 'to allow such time andspace for the separation I and subsidence of the fine flour as will prevent any considerable loss by flour-dust passing out with the outflowing air. The outlet for this purpose may be made adjustable as to size, so

as to give the best economy under the judgment'of the operator.

The abutment may be placed in a proper relatio'n to the projecting device, either upon the wall of the chamber in which it is arranged or upon such device, and it may be made adj ustable,- if desired. 1

-T he apparatus is supported in a suitable frame, and the supply of compressed air in the spherical chamber is maintained by any suitable means.

I The nozzle of the ejector F extends into the chamber, anddelivers into it in continuous cur rent the air or other medium and the solid pieces or grains to be reduced. This nozzle is attached to the chamber 0, into which the air enters through the pipe D from any suitable compressor. E is the mouth of the grain-pipe, extending within the inner end of the nozzle'F, but so arranged as to leave an annular openin g at a, through which the air rushes, and upon'well- -known principlesdraws with it grain from the pipe E. k I

G is a pipe connecting the section E with a cup or receiver, H, which holds the grains or pieces to be reduced, the same being supplied by the fixed pipe I, the supply being regulated by a-gate or valve, J, which enables the operator to regulate the feed while not affecting its continuity. This part of the mechanism may,

it is evident, be modified at will, or the grains may be fed directly by gravity simply by reversing the machine so as to project the material down' instead of up, as shown.

The grains or pieces,when projected from the nozzle, are directed against the target or impediment L, which, in the case illustrated, is

a plate of steel attached by screws to the frame K, which isa U-formed piece attached by a thread to the nozzle, on which it is screwed, and has a ring at the other end to reeei ve the target L.

The target is likely to be rapidly affected by the abrasion of theimaterial projected. .It is important, therefore, that provision should be made for its ready removal and replacement.

This may be done cheaply by the renewal of the plate L alone, or, if necessary, by substituting a new frame, K, and plate L.

This patent is intended to cover only the improvements which are made the subject of the respectiveclaims. Otherimprovements,bothin the application of the broad principle to more specific work in other processes and modification of the mechanism made by me, are the subject of other applications forLetters Patent. Nor do I claim herein the feature of an adjustable and detachable abutment, so that it may be removed when it is cut, worn, or abraded, and a newone readily substituted, as such matterwill form the subject of a separate application for a patent. i

What I claim'as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

: v 1. The herein-descri bed process for reducing substances to particles, consisting in projecting the grains or granules with force against a hard abutment or obstacle by means of a continu-' ously-flowing current of aeriform fluid, into ,which the grains are introduced at a convenient point, whereby the latterare disintegrated,

and then collecting into one channel the comminuted particles, while the aeriform fluid isallowed to escape by a different outlet, substantially as set forth.. 4

2. The combination, in a pulverizing or reducing apparatus, of the following elements, viz: a receiver for compressed air or other equivalent aeriform fluid, an ejector through which a continuous current of air flows, a feed pipe for supplying the'pa-rticles to be reduced,

arranged in such relation to the air-passage that the current of air shall draw the particles into said current, a discharge-nozzle through which the current of air and flow continuously, a chamber into which they are discharged, a solid target or impediment against which the particles are discharged and broken within said chamber, and exit openings for the separate escape of the air and reduced particles, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination, an ejector, a reservoir for grains or granules, having a regulating-valve and an outlet communicating with said ejector at asuitable point, an abutment located in front of the ejector, against which the grains or grannles are projected by the impulse of the blast from the said ejector, and a chamber inclosing the abutment, open for the escape of aeriform fluid, and having a separate outlet or chute for conveying into a receptacle the comminuted particles, substantially as shown and described.

4. In apparatus in which grain is reduced by impact by a continuous jet of air or equivalent particles mingled fluid induced by compressing mechanism, the combination of an abutment arranged within aeh amber having separate outlets for the spent air and the products of disintegration, with air and grain induction-pipes opening opposite said abutment, an air ejector, a grain-bin, and a feed-regulatin g device, the pipes which conduct the air and the grain being arranged in such relation to each other and to said chamber that the material will be fed by an interior col- 

